Des Moines Register
09-26-06
Biotech firm building in Ankeny
By LAURA PIEPER
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
A new biotechnology company will soon bring dozens of high-tech jobs to
Ankeny.
Earlier this month, Embria Health Sciences broke ground on the east side of
Ankeny to build its corporate headquarters. The company, which will be at 2105
S.E. Creekview Drive, east of Tone's Spices and next to Sara Lee, manufactures
natural nutritional supplements. Its most recent product is called EpiCor, an allnatural human immune-system booster.
Ankeny leaders have made a concerted effort to attract more biotechnology
companies to promote economic development in central Iowa's biotech corridor
between Des Moines and Ames. Biotechnology uses living things, such as plant
and animal tissue, to create new products.
"Embria's really on the front edge (of biotech) and it's a really cool product," said
Mike Coyne, Ankeny's economic development coordinator. "It's great ... they're
just delightful folks to work with."
Embria plans a $10 million, 36,000-square-foot Ankeny facility that will be
complete by July. Right now, employees work out of a Cedar Rapids office and
other locations as well as a small, temporary office in Ankeny. Company
President Paul Faganel said he had three employees at the beginning of 2006
and now has eight. He anticipates 18 employees by the end of 2007 and 30 by
2009.
"(Embria) is going to be a tremendous baby and it's going to grow quickly," said
John Bloomhall, president and chief operating officer of Diamond V Mills,
Embria's parent company.
Ankeny is currently home to biotech companies Monsanto, which focuses on
plant genetics, and American Protein Corporation and sister company Proliant,
which work with animal proteins to develop health products.
"(Embria) fits well with Monsanto and the health sciences" in Ankeny, City
Manager Carl Metzger said.
Coyne said right now the central Iowa biotech market is leaning toward plantand animal-tissue products and ingredient-based companies.
"We're just beginning to learn how to work through their connections and work
with them to explore that industry," he said. "This is going to be a real strength for
our area."
Faganel said Embria chose Ankeny as its headquarters for several reasons.
Parent company Diamond V Mills is a yeast culture manufacturer for livestock
feed that has operated for 63 years out of Cedar Rapids. Faganel said Diamond
V Mills needs a new food-certified facility to offer more products and to serve as
a second base of operations in case there was a fire or contamination at the
Cedar Rapids livestock feed plant.
Company leaders also liked Ankeny's easy access to Iowa State University in
Ames and other colleges, making Diamond V Mills and Embria close neighbors
to the state's top educational institutions.
Most of all, "this just felt like home," Faganel said.
Ankeny Mayor Steve Van Oort said Embria fits the image city leaders want to
promote.
"Embria is a company that really is on the cutting edge of what we're all about" in
the 21st century, he said.
The company has a strong relationship with community colleges in the Cedar
Rapids area, and plans to work with Des Moines Area Community College as
well to help build the company's and Ankeny's employee bases.
"You have some very high-paid individuals that work there," Coyne said of
Embria and similar biotech companies. "It's a great opportunity for people with
lab tech skills. The community college fits really well into that kind of mix."
The future of the biotech industry in Ankeny will likely continue to focus on
companies working with plant and animal products, Coyne said. City leaders are
also exploring how to make Ankeny a community that appeals to high-tech
employees as a place to live as well as work.
Right now city planners are seeking well-established companies that have solid
management and markets. Some of these companies, Coyne said, may come
out of the Ames research market, although Ankeny officials are not actively
recruiting businesses away from Ames.
"Ankeny is sort of a natural step out of Ames," he said.
One biotech aspect that Coyne does not see Ankeny recruiting for is biofuels.
"It's just not the place for a huge ethanol plant," he said, although some research
facilities may be considered.